Rio Tinto to spend $300m renewing Wickham

Rio Tinto will spend more than $300 million renewing and expanding the town of Wickham in Western Australia's Pilbara region to support its iron ore production expansion.

The plan has been approved by the state government and is Rio Tinto's second significant town renewal in the past five years following its $200 million plus revitalisation of Pannawonica, which is nearing completion.

Wickham, population 1,800, is near Cape Lambert port, which is being expanded and is owned by Robe River Iron Associates, a Rio Tinto-controlled joint venture with Japanese firms Mitsui Iron, Nippon Steel and Sumimoto Metal.

The port expansion is part of Rio Tinto's multi-billion dollar investment in the Pilbara to increase its iron ore mining and export capacity to 283 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) from 225Mtpa currently.

A further expansion to 353Mtpa is in the final study phase, Rio Tinto said in a statement on Tuesday.

Rio Tinto said the Wickham renewal would involve the construction of new accommodation units and a significant improvement in community facilities.